Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Near the Bone by Christina Henry

54 reviews

leilawoodhouse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Quite sad I didn't like this! I felt like there was too much going on. The William storyline, the creature, the 3 explorers. I thought they didn't really blend very well. I also thought the characters (mainly the Jen, Griffin and C.P) were a bit 2 dimensional

I thought that Jen and Griffin's deaths were unnecessary. I didn't see what,  especially Jen's, deaths added to the plot apart from showing that the monster was protective of its baby. I thought Griffin was built up quite a bit only for him to be killed quite soon after. The monster was never really explained either. Where did it come from? Why is it here? What is it? In another book that may have added to the mystery and given the world depth but in this book it just seemed rushed.

The ending was so abrupt for me!

we hear alot about Heather but then nothing really happens at the end

I think the creature and the William storyline would have stood much better individually. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Drug use, and Death of parent

nadiajohnsonbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Trafficking, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Gore

Minor: Rape and Blood

mandi_lea's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

sonygaystation's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I had so much fun with this omg it reminded me so much of Until Dawn and that video game is a blast!! Love me a good creature feature horror and this did not disappoint. My only wish is the ending was a little more fleshed out  but it definitely does leave an air of unsettling to have it end the way it did

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Miscarriage, Vomit, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Cursing, Drug use, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

wild_sazzy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Fantastic book. 
Christina Henry addresses modern day issues in a horror context and I am here for it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

elskabee's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

 This was a compelling horror novel where the horrors humans can inflict outweigh the horrors of an actual monster stalking our MC through the remote wilderness.

For me this book was not a comfortable read, but most of the things that happen to the MC are left vaguely described (most, not all). William's monstrosity still is more than clear and the MC's mental journey of starting to deconstruct everything she'd been brainwashed to believe as her memories come back is beautifully done. Being in Matty's head is incredible, she's smart and compassionate and finds an inner strength that made this story feel powerful rather than depressing.

I won't say this is a perfect book. As terrifying as the actual cryptid monster is, those looking for a creature horror will likely leave feeling unsatisfied. Although Matty is smart and careful, the strangers she meets make some stupid decisions that are kind of frustrating. But imo it was fairly tolerable because at least we still had Matty and their motivations for the decisions were understandable (but still stupid). The abruptness of the ending was very jarring for me as I felt that some things were left unresolved and I also just wish I could have known more about events afterwards.

Highly recommend, but definitely consider the triggers before picking up 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Sexism, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Rape, and Murder

Minor: Confinement

additionally: brainwashing, religious abuse rape is not on page/described, but it is referenced fairly frequently

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement and Miscarriage

Minor: Cursing, Infertility, Pedophilia, Rape, and Torture

Rapes are not detailed.

annamorgan27's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Pregnancy

jessab's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

A bit of a slow start but I quite liked the second half. Slow burn mystery with some criptid creature intrigue 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Child abuse and Rape

Minor: Gaslighting

jadziad97's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail